This was a discussion that started with some friends of mine at Wheaton College our senior year. If your interested in some of the history of the discussion here are some links: My first post on it, Nate’s follow up month’s later (including a lot of discussion in the comments), Another Nate post and discussion, finally here is a related post by me from March.
You can skip those and I’m going to write my thoughts on it below, hopefully touching on everything of importance from the previous discussion.
2006 HHS Poverty Guidelines
| Persons in Family or Household |
48 Contiguous States and D.C. |
Alaska | Hawaii |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $ 9,800 | $12,250 | $11,270 |
| 2 | 13,200 | 16,500 | 15,180 |
| 3 | 16,600 | 20,750 | 19,090 |
| 4 | 20,000 | 25,000 | 23,000 |
| 5 | 23,400 | 29,250 | 26,910 |
| 6 | 26,800 | 33,500 | 30,820 |
| 7 | 30,200 | 37,750 | 34,730 |
| 8 | 33,600 | 42,000 | 38,640 |
| For each additional person, add |
3,400 | 4,250 | 3,910 |
SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 71, No. 15, January 24,
2006, pp. 3848-3849
An important clarification needs to be made about what I’m about to suggest. This is not an attempt at sainthood, or some “holier than thou” type of living, rather it is meant to be very simple and practical. As a member of the human family, and more specifically as a Christian, I think there are certain guidelines by which we should try and live our lives. As a society we already have some standards in place through governmental force (speeding) and simple public consensus (think making noise during a movie, cutting in a line, etc). The idea of living a dollar above the poverty line is simply another attempt at putting before us some sort of standard to live by.
The choice of the national poverty line was a simple one. Though we didn’t all actually discuss the choice of the national poverty line, it is the guideline we as a society have accepted as the indicator of poverty. It is a simple line, if your annual income is below that amount you are considered “in poverty” and you are eligible for certain help. If you have one dollar above that amount in your annual income you are NOT poor and we as a society agree you have the financial resources you need.
As a Christian I think there is a good case for us to not take more then we need (maybe like the manna in the desert), and to use what we have been given to contribute to the needs of those around us. That being said, we should probably be thinking about a guideline for ourselves to determine how much meets our “needs.” In a society of more wealth and resources then we’ve ever imagined, it’s hard to even admit that there might be a line below “whatever you can afford” by which we should live. I believe we as a church should be having this discussion together. And I believe that the national poverty line is a good guideline to start with.
So, I believe strongly that effective immediately, we should begin to try and live by the standard of one dollar above the poverty line. For my wife and I that means $13,201 a year. A monthly budget of about $1000.
Mindy and I have made series efforts throughout our marriage to make lifestyle changes to live within that amount. We’ve had roommates for a number of reasons, but one of them being the financial necessity of staying within our budget. We thought through and planned out a budget we try to stay within to make that budget possible. In all our attempts though, we still fall far short.
First, if you include the cost of Mindy’s college tuition, we are no where near a $1000 a month budget. The reality is anyone living at our nation’s poverty line will have a difficult time moving past that if they can’t afford an education. We also couldn’t have simply purchased a decent car last fall when ours broke down. Though we’ve made an effort to adjust our budget to accommodate the cost of the car, and a couple plane tickets home for Christmas, the reality is that if we truly didn’t have more then a poverty line income, we couldn’t make those large purchases when we needed to.
Second, the recognition of our inability to “survive” at the poverty line puts us in a compelling position to take political action. What that probably means is that you need to give your senator a call and tell them you believe the minimum wage and the poverty line should be raised. You should let your congress person know that you tried living near the poverty line and it just wasn’t possible without some extra help. And I guess if your not political, you could at least set-up an appointment with your pastor and tell them about the gap between those trying to survive and the places they can go to meet their needs. Forget politics for a second and we’ll come to the real meat of this post, the ability the church could have for good if we started living by a guideline that meets our needs and then meets the needs of others (rather then our own wants).
Can you imagine for a minute a church that adopted that sort of expectation for it’s members? In the same way many churches spend their efforts convincing their congregation that they should outlaw gay marriage, it would be refreshing and amazing to see pastors encouraging their congregations to radically change their current lifestyle. Imagine a church with doctors and school teachers, CEO’s and janitors all choosing to live at a standard that meets their needs and giving their extra resources to meet the needs of others. Shouldn’t we as Christian’s dictate our cost of living more as a group within the churches we attend than by the income we make?
This is meant to be an ongoing conversation. I haven’t set in stone this dollar amount as a standard for myself or others, but I believe their should be one. So let’s have the discussion, and let’s decide how we should live.
Great post. Very eye-opening. Thanks for sharing.
good stuff! I esp. agree with this:
“Can you imagine for a minute a church that adopted that sort of expectation for it’s members? In the same way many churches spend their efforts convincing their congregation that they should outlaw gay marriage, it would be refreshing and amazing to see pastors encouraging their congregations to radically change their current lifestyle.”
I cannot even tell you the controversy that would cause with our church if we actually taught this at the service we lead.
We don’t live quite at a dollar above but we’re close. And we have done so purposefully…which, I can tell ya, gets harder when you have kiddos, can’t really realistically have roommates, etc.
I usually tell people this when I start in on this issue – don’t think of it in terms of finding answers, just consider asking the questions.
And as a companion piece to that, take a look at this calculator that shows what people need to be making to meet basic expenses in Minnesota. Definite disparity between the numbers above and the numbers here.
Jobs Now Coalition Cost of Living Calculator
Ariah, the “poverty line” is as much fiction as it is political manipulation. The current poverty line in the U.S. is calculated by politicians to be the moneys required by an individual in order to purchase the resources required to stay physically alive (to live).
As you can see, this is actually quite arbitrary in that there can be no such thing since by definition no human being can possibly live BELOW the poverty line — since it would technically mean that you would be pushing daisies if you did live below that “line.”
Politicians have manipulated this imaginary line for years in order to garner votes in exchange for welfare programs and social reforms, and while I understand the genuine care and considerations you’ve expressed above, I am asking you to consider where the data comes from. In fact, the question I would ask you would be “why a dollar ABOVE the poverty line? Why not a dollar BELOW?” In fact, would one single dollar below that line mean certain death for someone?
Another thing to consider is how the poverty line calculation is affected by illegal immigrants and retirees. Since the poverty line is based on income rather than consumption, many retirees, college students and immigrants would fall below the line since they have no income or that can be legally claimed, however they are more than able to consume income that is not taxable, saved in the past or from parents in the case of college students.
Furthermore, according to the Heritage Foundation, 26% of people living BELOW the poverty line are obese and 46% of households classified as “poor” actually own their own home.
We really need to focus more on sound economic principles rather than emotions guys. If we want to eradicate poverty (which I am all in favor of), we need to adopt principles that are proven to work, not by adopting measurement standards that are not in line with reality. Herbert Stein said something that perfectly fits with what we are discussing here:
“What makes poverty in America unlovely to me is not only a low level of income. It is the association of that condition with a high probability of being either a crime victim or a criminal, of attending an unsafe and disorderly school, of living in an atmosphere of drug and alcohol abuse and most of all, of not having a supportive spouse or two caring parents.
All people with low incomes do not have these problems, and some with highest incomes do have them. But the association of these problems with lowness of income is close enough to describe the condition of poverty that I find unlovely. That condition deserves our most intensive care. I believe that the present focus on inequality of income diverts national attention from it.”
First of all let me say, thanks for the thoughts, comments and encouragement. I’m glad you found something worth thinking about in this post.
Virgil,
Thanks for your thoughts, I see you have some strong feelings about the “poverty line” and how arbitrary and ridiculous you believe it is. So, let’s agree it’s got it’s problems and move on to the more important point of this post. Let’s see if we can discuss in the practical, not abstract, what dollar amount or annual cost of living we think is enough for us. Specifically, as it relates to being followers of Christ.
What’s your thought?
Ariah, indeed that is a tough issue to discuss since in my opinion I personally found it so easy to make money above and beyond that line, regardless of how arbitrary I believe it is. Now I am a strong proponent of free market economics so it is difficult for me to suggest an imaginary line over which “enough is enough.” Most of my life I lived in a Communist country where some guys in the government decided for me what is “enough” so I never hesitate to be open about the fact that I have trouble with that kind of thinking.
From a Biblical perspective, it is obvious that Christ encouraged us to help the poor and the needy. I can see how someone could interpret that to mean “live within your means” but that can also become an abitrary thing. I guess the question I am prompted to ask is this: how would all of us working, living and spending at the poverty line (or a dollar above) help someone else in need? Would that not in fact reduce our ability to help, create opportunities and expand the possibilities for other less fortunate folks? After all, most of the rich people do not store large amounts of cash under their mattress and rather invest it corporations which in turn create new jobs and opportunities for all people.
Just a few things to consider.
Also, thanks for raising an interesting question; I think because of my personality I tend to come across feisty, so I am sorry if that was the case 🙂
Virgil,
Thanks for the good hearted conversation. I agree with you whole heartedly about not letting some sort of government or structure demand or order by force how you should live, that’s certainly not what I’m advocating for.
Towards the end of my post (I know it was rather long and drawn out), I mentioned that:
“Imagine a church with doctors and school teachers, CEO’s and janitors all choosing to live at a standard that meets their needs and giving their extra resources to meet the needs of others. Shouldn’t we as Christian’s dictate our cost of living more as a group within the churches we attend than by the income we make?”
What maybe wasn’t clear from that is that I’m not advocating for everyone to only make that much money, but rather to choose to only spend a certain amount on ourselves, and use the rest to meet the needs of others.
I’m sure we can get into a great conversation about how best to use the extra money you have to help meet others needs, but I think we should save that for another time. For now what I’m trying to figure out is what we might be able to agree on as an acceptable amount for you and your family to be content, but not over indulgent.
I love your thoughts on this! I so want to be part of a revolution that says “NO POOR AMONG US!” I don’t know how to start, but think you give such great insight and thoughtful commentary on what to do.
I think we excuse ourselves from “action” using statistics given by Virgil, because poor people are obese etc..we need to stop that and JUST do it! We need to do it institutionally (within our churches) as well. I also have trouble with prosperity folks – but that’s a whole other discussion!
Great stuff!
There is a lot that could be talked about here, but I would just like to touch on one point. Virgil points out the number of poor people who are obese, as if being obese means that one necessary has enough access to healthy food and therefore is not really poor. A person’s capacity to be obese is largely determined before their second birthday and is a result of how they were feed by caregivers. Children who were not breastfed, children who are fed inappropriate solid foods and children who are introduced to solid foods at inappropriate times are much more likely to be obese as adults. Women in lower income jobs are much less likely to have access to appropriate breaks and private rooms needed to pump breast milk, to be able to stay home with their children, or to put them into quality childcare where caregivers provide healthy food. And so the cycle continues. As the grocery shopper of the family, I am painfully aware that whole foods cost more than unhealthy food, because unhealthy food is full of cheap fillers like high fructose corn syrup. Have you all seen the types of food donated to Second Harvest? Have you seen the so-called food given away to children who are recipients of free or reduced price lunches? And what about the WIC program, which is overwhelmingly comprised of dairy (it is a dairy industry subsidy masquerading as a nutrition program) and the distribution of milk in school lunches? When we consider that the overwhelming majority of non-whites (and not a few whites) are lactose intolerant, it amounts to institutional racism. While choosing the federal poverty line is an overly simplistic way to consider how we should live with our money as Christians, pointing fingers at people who are poor and obese is more so.